- Author
-
Berl, W. G.
|
Halpin, B. M.
- Title
- Human Fatalities From Unwanted Fire. Final Report.
- Coporate
- Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD
- Journal
-
Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, Vol. 1, No. 2, 129-134, 1980 <b>AND</b> Fire Journal, Vol. 73, No. 5, 105-115, September 1979,
['1979', '1980']
- Sponsor
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
-
NBS GCR 79-168,
December 1978,
64 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
-
alcohol intoxication
|
autopsy
|
building fires
|
cigarettes
|
death
|
fire investigations
|
fire statistics
|
pathology
|
toxic gases
- Abstract
- World-wide demographic information on human fire fatalities is reviewed. Particular emphasis is given to the physical causes and medical consequences of fire fatalities in the State of Maryland, USA, during 1972-1977. The analysis and conclusions are based on investigations of 463 deaths. The importance of toxic gases as the cause of death, of cigarettes as one of the principal ignition sources and of alcohol as an important contributing factor is discussed. The widely differing fire fatality rates among the various States of the U.S. are correlated by means of Ignition and Potentiating Indices which are based, in turn, on a variety of physical, social and economic factors that are responsible for the frequency of unwanted ignition and the likelihood of a fatal outcome.